Daniel watched patiently as the fighters flew out of his range.  He assumed that the Headhunters would double back to give him another shot.

Watching closely, he got a first-han look as Nirro's ship was destroyed.  He immediately jumped on the comm.

"Daniel to bridge.  One of the Headhunters is down.  I repeat, Headhunter down.  He's ballistic, heading into space.  Status of pilot unknown.  Over."

'Eight is hit - he's lost power and is drifting - someone log his heading.'
Snapped Devon to anyone who was listening as he started another evasive manouvere.  'I'm all alone out here now.'

Scrabbling to get to his Crusader commlink one handed, Devon privately decided that if that gunner on Sarratoga didn't shoot another Cloakshape down soon, he wasn't going to buy him that beer after all...

'Nine this is Eleven; Good to hear a friendly voice - could use a little help over here.  Corvette Reprisal and Cloakshapes are hostile.'

Several strange curses drifted over the comm as Flash momentarily fell back to his native tongue.  You catch snatches of things like, "You son of a marakka!"  He soon gained some control of his panic and began frantically trying to fix the error and pull the cruiser back into an advantageous position.  "Things are not going well, help would be greatly appreciated," he muttered to no-one in particular.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:34, Tue 15 Jan 2008.

Exilim breifly considered switching to sensors but then decided against it. The Reprisal had out manouvered them for the moment and he decided the shields were more important so he concentrated on them.

Turning to Flash quickly he says "Get us back in position, remember your fancy flying."

"Jek, get back to the sensors. I need a scan on the Reprisal, Eight tracked and a location on Nine if you can. Slan do your best to keep the hacker out." he says over the ships comm.

Switching to the Crusaders comm "Nine. Four here. Welcome back and good timing. We are cruiser Sarratoga, currently under fire from the corvette Reprisal and two cloakshapes."

Another message comms through on the Black Talon comm.

"Four, this is nine again.  Can you put one on the comm please?"

"No worries boss.  Heading back to sensors"

Flash continued to wrestle with the unfamiliar controls, desperately working to disengage the autopilot as the Reprisal moved towards the Sarratoga's aft.  Gunners on both ships exchanged fire.  Turbolaser blasts struck Sarratoga's shields while Jamie raked the unshielded Reprisal with another blast from his ion cannon.  Then the Corvette moved out of Darak and Jamie's weapon arcs and they could do little but stretch their hands and let their weapons cool.

Devon meanwhile had pulled a sharp 180-degree turn, the Cloakshapes still in pursuit.  Clearly eager to end the fight, the two fighters refrained from firing their laser blasts, instead loosing a pair of missiles each towards the lone Headhunter.

Exilim continued to work on the shields, restoring some power, though nowhere near as much that was being burned off by the laser blasts.  At the same time Jek made the dash from computing to navigation, heading for his old station.

---

OOC:  Jek can operate sensors as of round 15.  Flash now has helm control again.  The Corvette has slipped in behind the Sarratoga (the ships are now stern to stern).  Devon has 4 missiles hunting him.  He will fly into Daniel's field of fire next round (if he lives that long)!  NO gunner has a target next round unless the pilots 'make one' as such.


Friendly Craft
Sarratoga
Shields: 104/180 (58%)
Hull: 159/220 (72%)
No System Damage

Nirro (Z-95 Headhunter)
Shields: OFFLINE
Hull: -17/120 (Destroyed)
0/6 Missiles

Devon (Z-95 Headhunter)
Shields: 30/30 (100%)
Hull: 66/120 (55%)
0/6 Missiles

Enemy Craft
Reprisal - Shields: 0% Hull: 100%
? Damage

C/S 1: Hull 100%
C/S 2: Hull 100%
C/S 3: Destroyed
C/S 4: Destroyed

"Will do Nine" He replies over the comm. While he continues to desperately try and keep the Sarratoga's defenses up, he contacts the Commander "One, Four. Nine is in the area, requests you make contact"

Without taking his eyes off his station he says to Flash "Spin us, do whatever, just get one of our gunners facing that ship."

Darak said nothing as the corvette moved out of his firing arc.  Considering how crappy his shooting had been he probably had as much chance of hitting the corvette now then when it was actually in his line of sight!

Even though they were out of range, Daniel continued to follow the fighters and missiles on his scope.  The moment either a Cloakshape or missile was in range he planned to open fire.

"Eleven.  Bring them back here.  I'll try to shoot them off your back.  Maybe you should fly close to the corvette, make them eat the missile sandwich."

Flash pulled at the controls, trying to turn back to how he was before, but without backing into the corvette.  "Sorry about that, bringing them back into range...now."

'Get those cloakshapes, if you can.'
Devon told the gunner.  Manouvering violently, Devon aimed for the now unshielded Reprisal and skimmed along its hull for a moment before side slipping to place the superstructure of its hull firmly between him and the pursuing missiles.  With a little luck,they'd take the most direct line to him and...

As Flash alerted him to the corvette returning to his arc he seized the reins of his ion turret once more and shot at the big ship twice.
A little too fast, perhaps, he thought to himself after the fact.
He looked on the Z-95 dodging and weaving with dismay.
That should be me out there...focus on the big one!

Flash brought the Sarratoga around in a sharp turn, allowing an exchange of fire between the two vessels.  As Reprisal poured turbolaser fire into Sarratoga's, Darak and Jamie raked the corvette with ion and turbolaser fire.  While the cruiser's shields held, the corvette buckled as turbolaser blasts burned into its hull.  Meanwhile Jamie's ion cannon blasts continued to wreak havoc on the corvette's systems.

Finally reaching the sensors, Jek pulled up a sensor report.  "Wow, you've done a number on her.  Looks like her targetting computer and sensors are down.  Their flying blind over there."

In his Headhunter, Devon continued to maneuver wildly, determined to evade the missiles on his tail.  Focusing on the corvette, he dove as hard and fast as the craft would allow.  So focused on his target was he, that he failed to see the lead Cloakshape explode spectacularly as it took a head on hit from Danie's turbolaser.

Diving hard, Devon skimmed along the length of the Reprisal.  He got so close he swore he could reach out and touch the deck plates.  As he reached the end he pulled a hard right turn and killed his engines, praying his gambit work.

That night, it seemed fate was witht he young shipjacker.  All four missiles lost track of his ship and instead locked on to the corvette's engines.  The explosion sent the capital ship into a spin for several seconds until the pilot got it under control.

Moments later a message began broadcasting on the local comm.  "This is Hydia IV defence corvette Reprisal.  We have taken serious damage and have numerous casualties.  We are withdrawing from your secotr and ceasing hostilities.  I repeast ceasing hostilities and withdrawing, over."

True to its word, the corvette was attempting to limp away.  The sole remaining Cloakshape fighter had stopped chasing Devon and was falling into formation with the cruiser.

---

Friendly Craft
Sarratoga
Shields: 81/180 (45%)
Hull: 159/220 (72%)
No System Damage

Nirro (Z-95 Headhunter)
Shields: OFFLINE
Hull: -17/120 (Destroyed)
0/6 Missiles

Devon (Z-95 Headhunter)
Shields: 30/30 (100%)
Hull: 66/120 (55%)
0/6 Missiles

Enemy Craft
Reprisal - Shields: 0% Hull: 43%
Ion Damage: Computers disabled, sensors disabled, starboard turbolaser disabled

C/S 1: Destroyed
C/S 2: Hull 100%
C/S 3: Destroyed
C/S 4: Destroyed

Exilim sat stunned for a moment, the battle had ended so abruptly. Recovering himself quickly "Good work all" he said over the ships comm in a relieved voice. Pausing briefly he continues "Jek, get a fix on Eight, we need to go pick him up, pass the data onto Eleven. Darak, shut down your turret for the moment, then check and see if any of our guests were hurt."

Turning to Flash "Good work. Get us set to follow Nirro, we'll pick him up and then try to get out of here."

Using his console, he checked to make sure the Reprisal and its now single cloakshape escort continued to head away from them. Once satisfied that was the case, he began bringing up what ships systems he could and assessed for damage.

"Yes sir," Flash replied.  Looking down at the controls, he tried to familiarize himself with it a bit more, and prepared the ship to go fighter-chasing.  He decided not to move until he was sure which direction Eight went, so he waited for the scanner info.

"Yeah!  You'd better run!"
Jamie had leaped from his seat to shake a fist at the retreating corvette.
Activating the shipboard comms, he said, "This is Five; nice work!  But we'll have time for that later.  They may be turning away, but that doesn't mean we can rest.  I want a man full-time on the sensors; look for any survivors and keep an eye out for visitors.  Set someone on the shields, too; I want them up to full efficiency ASAP.  Send Nine a response; don't keep her hanging.  Daniel, sit tight and keep your turret powered up, please.  If they turn back on us we should be ready.  I'm moving to engineering to lend One a hand."
With that Jamie left his station and limped off to engineering to find One.
"Ho, Sir; would you like a hand with that hyperdrive?  Someone to pass you hydrospanners, perhaps?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:52, Fri 25 Jan 2008.

'I'm alive?'  Devon asked himself, answering his own question in the process.
'I'm alive!  I can't believe that worked!'

Wiping his brow to get rid of the sweat that had accumulated there during the dogfight - Some dogfight he thought All I did was duck, dodge, dive and get very very lucky...

Taking a deep breath, Devon returned his attention to the task at hand and steered his fighter back into formation with Sarratoga.
'Eleven here - lets please not do that again any time soon...'
He was quite impressed at how calm he sounded - you'd hardly suspect how jittery he was...

Bringing the Sarratoga on a new heading, the cruiser made its way towards Nirro's fighter.  However they weren't the first there.  The shuttle that had been designated a 'friendly' by Xil had got their first.  Jek watched on sensors as someone exited the craft, recovered Nirro from the wreckage and returned to the shuttle.  The shuttle's external doors closed just as the Sarratoga closed to within five kilometres.

As they closed, a message came across the comm.  "One to the bridge, hyperdrive is restored.  As soon as five helps me put my spanners away we can get out of here.  I'm a pilot, not a grease monkey."
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:44, Sat 26 Jan 2008.

"Yes sir."  Daniel answered.  He kept his attention squarely focused on the corvette and cloakshape, ready to open fire if needed.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:06, Sat 26 Jan 2008.

Mark stood and gave his clothes a wipe with his hands to try and rub off some of the grease.  The fact that his hands were dirtier then his clothes did not make the mission a success.

"What I want is to get the hell out of here and get some mechanics working down here.  There's a reason I fly these things and not fix them.  We've got the backup hyperdrive but the primary needs work.  Maybe that mechanic we have can work on the primary, if he can be trusted.  For now we can at least limp this crate back to the Indefagitable.  I'm sure the Alliance will be most eager to hear about our recon mission.  So much for intel gathering.  Seems we are better at breaking things then watching them."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:52, Mon 28 Jan 2008.

(Assuming that someone is checking all frequencies in Communications)



***Cackle***

"Cruiser, this is Grey 6 requesting landing clearance. This is a medical emergency. I repeat. This is Grey 6 requesting medical emergency landing clearance."

The frequency used is an old one used by the Squadron in the past. Some may recall it was only used while in simulations.

"Well Five, I think we've overstayed our welcome."

With Jamie in tow, Mark left engineering and headed straight for the bridge.  When he arrived he dropped into the commander's seat and began punching up the screens.

"Gentlemen.  A sitrep if you please."

The events of the day were begining to take their toll as Exilim had to fight harder to keep his mind focused on the many tasks at hand.

With the shuttle having picked up Nirro he leaves the shields temporarily and switchs to his communication screen. About to try and initiate contact with the shuttle he suddenly hears an urgent voice "Cruiser, this is Grey 6 requesting landing clearance. This is a medical emergency. I repeat. This is Grey 6 requesting medical emergency landing clearance.".....Grey 6...first Nine and now Grey 6... he thinks to himself as memories from ealier days flood into his mind. Locking onto the frequency used by Grey 6, he responds "Grey 6, this is cruiser Sarratoga, identify your location and crew." After the days events he could not let down his guard even for a medical emergency. Keeping the channel open he begins a scan of the nearby shuttle.

Exilim's head snaps up as he hears the Commanders voice behind him, he hadn't notice him arrive as he concentrated on the shuttle. Turning around in his seat "Sitrep as follows Sir. All systems, bar the main hyperdrive, check out as normal and operational. As you know the backup hyperdrive is online, jump course requires finalising before we can go. Shields at 50% and climbing. Corvette Reprisal and it's cloakshape escort continue to head away from us. The shuttle has picked up Eight. We have had contact from Nine and now Grey 6, who requests urgent docking for a medical emergency. Attempting to verify their identity and location with the assumption it is from the shuttle as we marked it as friendly earlier." Having given his report he turns back to his console and continues to scan the approaching shuttle.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:10, Tue 29 Jan 2008.

Mark looks up from his console.  "Understood.  Five, put together a small security force.  Take one of the doctors with you.  If the medical emergency is genuine and those are our people then do what needs to be done."

"Four, co-ordinate whoever you have on navigation to plot our hyperspace jump.  Then feed the co-ordinates to our fighters.  And get someone on the shields."

"Two.  Dock with that shuttle but unlock the hatch only when Five is in position.  Once the shuttle is secure use the co-ordinates navigation feeds you and get us out of here.  You'll only have the backup drive."

"Oh and if you trust that mechanic of yours, see what he can do about the primary drive."

"Now lets go home.  I need a cup of caf. . .seriously."